Defense Contract Fraud

October 9, 2018

A defense contractor has agreed to pay $7.8 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by fraudulently obtaining Department of Defense contracts meant for small businesses. Arena Event Services, Inc., dba Arena Americas, allegedly paid kickbacks to the smaller Military Training Solutions, LLC (MTS) in order to obtain millions of dollars worth of contracts. The work was then performed by the larger Arena Americas in a setup explicitly prohibited by government contract rules. MTA has previously settled with the government for its role in the fraud. USAO SDGA

September 6, 2018

The owner of New Jersey-based defense contracting firm, Bright Machinery Manufacturing Group Inc (BMM), has been charged with defrauding the Department of Defense and violating the Arms Export Control Act. From 2010 to 2015, Ferdi Gul—currently at large in Turkey—submitted bids and was awarded 346 contracts worth $7 million to manufacture military parts within the U.S., including torpedoes, firearms, and mine clearance systems. Instead, Gul had the parts made in Turkey, submitted false quality control paperwork, and sent the parts back to the U.S. to DoD customers. In subsequent testing by the DoD, some of the parts were shown to be essentially unusable. If found and convicted, Gul could be imprisoned for a maximum of 160 years and be ordered to pay up to $3.5 million. USAO NJ

August 8, 2018

The former CEO of Wellco Enterprises, Inc., Vincent Lee Ferguson, was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for his role in a scheme to sell boots to the Department of the Defense and others as "Made in the U.S.A.," when the boots were, in fact, made in China.  The company instructed its Chinese manufacturing facility to include tear-away "Made in China" labels on the boot uppers, and then instructed employees at Wellco's New Jersey facility to remove the labels.  The company sold over $8 million in fraudulently-marked boots.  USAO E.D.Tenn.

August 7, 2018

International Marine and Industrial Applicators, LLC (IMIA) and Marine Equipment Supply, LLC (MES), two marine maintenance companies, have paid $2.8M to settle allegations that they improperly billed the Navy for rental equipment. Under the contract that the companies had with the Navy, they were not allowed to charge for rental equipment. The companies violated this provision when they charged over $1.4M for the rental of hull repair machinery. USAO Western District of Washington

August 6, 2018

Pentad Corporation, a defense contractor with employees at Guantanamo Bay, has settled allegations that it failed to reimburse the Navy for meals its employees consumed at that base. Pentad is a contractor that provides dining-related services at various basis; under its contract with the Navy, the company’s employees are permitted to eat at Naval facilities, but the company must reimburse the Navy for those meals. USAO Middle District of Florida

August 6, 2018

Richard Olsen, the CFO of Mission Support Alliance LLC, a Department of Energy contractor, will pay $124,000 to resolve allegations that he received a $40,000 kickback from Lockheed Martin. According to the allegations, Mr. Olsen received the kickback in exchange for a Lockheed Martin subsidiary receiving a lucrative subcontract. Mission Support Alliance is a Lockheed Martin subsidiary as well. USAO Eastern District of Washington

July 26, 2018

3M Company has agreed to pay $9.1 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly sold dual-ended Combat Arms Earplugs, Version 2 (CAEv2) to the US military without disclosing defects that hampered the effectiveness of the hearing protection device.  As part of the settlement, the whistleblower who initiated the lawsuit will receive $1,911,000. DOJ

June 27, 2018

John J. Palie Jr. and his son John J. Palie III both pled guilty to fraud charges related to titanium sold to a Connecticut defense contractor. The two admitted to misrepresenting the source and quality of the titanium they sold to a company that produces aircraft engines including for U.S. Air Force fighter jets. The victim company faced $1,328,000 in losses for the fraudulent misrepresentation. USAO DCT

June 14, 2018

Christopher McCray was sentenced to federal prison for accepting illegal kickbacks from an Afghan trucking company that acted as a subcontractor to his former employer, a U.S. government contractor in Afghanistan. McCray admitted to accepting 15 percent of the trucking company’s revenues on the subcontract, which involved moving cargo for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service to military bases in Afghanistan. USAO NDGA